Numerous diagnostic tools exist for servicing modern vehicles equipped with electronic control units (ECUs). The ECUs control the functioning of the various vehicle electronic subsystems such as, for example, transmission control units, electronic ignition systems, air bag systems, keyless entry systems, climate control systems and antilock braking systems. In order to control these electronic subsystems, the ECUs utilize data from various sensors provided throughout the vehicle such as, for example, oxygen sensors, air temperature sensors, throttle position sensors, knock sensors, coolant temperature sensors, and tire pressure monitoring sensors.
The ECUs of modern vehicles are also programmed to alert drivers to various safety and service conditions identified from data collected from the various sensors in the vehicles. Examples of such conditions include, but are not limited to, low tire pressure, recommended oil replacement interval exhausted, low battery charge, faulty oxygen sensor, failed mass airflow sensor and faulty gas cap. While many vehicles have display screens that provide information to a driver on the detection of a safety or service condition, in many vehicles having such ECUs the driver will be alerted to the existence of such a safety or service condition by the illumination of a “check engine” light.
Irrespective of the means of alerting the driver to the presence of a safety or service condition, it is quite often the case that the user cannot determine the precise nature of the condition without resort to the use of a diagnostic tool that links to the ECUs and reads the diagnostic trouble codes stored by the ECUs on the occurrence of a safety or service condition. In addition to storing the safety and service condition data, the ECUs also store information regarding the operational status of the various systems of the vehicle that can be accessed using diagnostic tools. Existing diagnostic tools can also be used to operate the various electronic subsystems of the vehicle during servicing to diagnose problems.
Service procedures have been developed by vehicle manufacturers for performing service on vehicles using diagnostic tools. These procedures provide the ordering of steps to perform to efficiently identify the specific cause of a trouble code. Augmenting the procedures developed by the vehicle manufacturers, assets have been developed for additional repair procedures such as, for example, Repair-Trac®, Code-Assist™, Fast Fixes™, iATN available through the International Automotive Technicians Network (www.iatn.net) and Direct-Hit™ available from Identifix, Inc. (www.identifix.com).
As the information available to technicians through the ECUs has increased, the relative number of procedures has also increased making it more difficult for technicians to identify and effectively utilize these in servicing vehicles. Experience based databases of fix information also exist that augment the procedures developed by the vehicle manufacturers that may not be known to an individual technician or it may not be known by that technician how to coordinate fixes from multiple sources. In addition, as vehicle diagnostic tools become more ubiquitous many such tools are now being sold in the DIY market for backyard mechanics. As the relative level of diagnostic experience of users of such tools decreases the potential for the incorrect usage of such tools has increased and the knowledge of and ability to use relevant diagnostic procedures has diminished. A need therefore exists for methods and systems that will automate set up features for vehicle diagnostic tools as well as automate the identification and usage of relevant diagnostic procedures.